Outbound Systems

Outbound Systems, Inc.

Company type	Private
Industry	Computer manufacturing
Founded	1989 (1989)
Founder	Warren Conner
Defunct	February 1993 (1993-02)
Fate	Filed for bankruptcy; ceased operations
Successor	PerFit (service and warranty support, temporarily)
Headquarters	Boulder , United States
Area served	United States
Key people	Warren Conner (founder)
Products	Macintosh-compatible portable computers, Windows desktop systems

Outbound Systems, Inc. was a U.S.-based computer manufacturer located in Boulder, Colorado. Established in 1989 by Warren Conner, the company focused on producing Macintosh-compatible portable computers between 1989 and 1991. After withdrawing from the Mac clone sector in 1992, Outbound transitioned to manufacturing Windows desktop machines before filing for bankruptcy in 1993.

Wallaby laptop

Outbound’s first offering, the Wallaby, was a Mac-compatible laptop equipped with a Motorola 68000 CPU running at 15 MHz, later enhanced to 20 MHz. Introduced in 1989, this model provided a notable business edge by being considerably lighter—just over 4 kilograms—than Apple's Macintosh Portable.

Because Apple declined to license the Macintosh Toolbox ROM, Wallaby users had to install a ROM chip extracted from existing Macintosh computers. This process rendered the donor Mac less functional unless used with a docking station. Despite this additional expense, the Wallaby’s $4,000 price remained competitive compared to Apple's alternatives.

The device incorporated a built-in pointing device known as the Trackbar (originally trademarked as Isopoint), a cylindrical controller that enabled both vertical and horizontal scrolling. It operated on standard camcorder batteries, which reduced operating expenses relative to the proprietary batteries commonly used by portable computers at that time.

Outbound notebook

In 1991, the Wallaby was replaced by the Outbound notebook.

This successor continued using lead-acid camcorder batteries like its predecessor and featured a 9.7-inch passive-matrix monochrome display. It utilized a 2.5-inch IDE hard drive, predating Apple’s PowerBooks adoption of IDE drives until 1994. Connectivity options included an internal microphone and speaker, headphone output, two serial ports, an ADB port, and a distinctive SCSI port designed to support the Outbound Outrigger external monochrome monitor.

The processor, RAM, Mac ROM, and an optional 68882 floating-point unit were all installed on a removable daughtercard, facilitating straightforward upgrades and memory expansion via four 30-pin SIMM slots. Although only 4MB of RAM was accessible by Mac system software, any additional memory functioned as an Outbound-specific "Silicon Disk" RAM disk.

Demise

The introduction of Apple’s PowerBook in 1991 effectively ended the market for Mac-compatible laptops from third parties. More significantly, Outbound’s dependency on Apple-licensed ROMs became problematic when Apple refused to authorize newer proprietary ROM versions. As Motorola 68000 processors grew scarce, this refusal forced Outbound to cease laptop production. Attempting to adapt, Outbound shifted focus to Windows desktop systems in 1992 but accumulated debts nearing $5 million by 1993. The company failed to meet payroll obligations and ultimately shut down in February 1993. Subsequently, some former staff established PerFit to manage service and warranty support temporarily before it too ceased operations in 1994.

External links

• Outbound Laptop on AppleFritter – review including images
• Outbound Laptop on LowEndMac – technical specifications
• Outbound Notebook at Obsolete Computer Museum – review with photographs
• Archived article on Outbound Laptop (French)
• Archived article: What's Outbound got that Apple doesn't?